Banned Books

Today in class we discussed banned books in schools. We discussed the different reasons why books may be banned such as sexual content, language, religion, magic, drug use, etc. I was very surprised by some of the books that are banned by schools or classrooms. Many books are "challenged", but never banned. Dr. Dan, our professor for our Language Arts class (E371), brought in a few examples of banned books. He showed us a few books banned because they contained magic.

The next book he showed us confused me slightly. Its title Heather Has Two Mommies, sounds self explanatory. I felt that, as teachers, we need to offer diverse books into the classroom, but how can we do that when all the books are banned.  Dr. Dan continued to explain how banned books can still be checked out of libraries, but are only available in the restricted section. This made me think, if books on gay/lesbian parents are considered "banned", then what are these children going to think? Books based upon homosexuality are deemed "bad", therefore to be homosexual must be wrong... This is where I found the problem. However, Dr. Dan offered me the chance to borrow Heather Has Two Mommies to take home and read. I wanted to decipher what caused this book to be on the banned list. After reading a few pages, I found out why...

Click image to view text.

The book began like a normal children's book, until you got to page 7. It began talking about how invetro-fertilization works (lets just say it get's pretty graphic with moth text and images).  I now see why the text is banned. I decided to check out the ALA (American Library Association) websites to look at the banned/challenged books list.  I was very shocked by some of the books and not by others. Such classics as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men... all classics!

As a future teacher, I hope to keep my classroom very diverse when it comes to books available.  I will always be sure to read my books before putting them in the library or assigning any book to my students. I feel that, if parents have a problem with a book, it is important that teachers defend the book and themselves, letting them know the importance of it.  As Dr. Dan said, just because one parent says the book should not be read, does not mean another parent feels the same way.

View the 100 most banned/challenged books:

ALA Banned Books